Page 46 of Infamous

Between Albert and Dayo they managed to lift her, and then they all started walking slowly up the hill, Eddie reluctant to let go of Rose’s hand.

‘If nobody is going to say it, then I am,’ said Kitty. ‘We are all just going to have to beverygrown-up about the fact that every one of us is practically naked.’

Chapter Seventeen

When they reached the house, Rose asked in a very small voice to please be put down; when they tried, however, she almost fell over, and had to be righted again by many helpful hands.

‘The ladies will take her from here,’ Liza said firmly.

She and Kitty took a shoulder each and helped her up the stairs, Eddie following. They met Valentine on the landing.

‘They drew a bath in my room, as the tub was already there.’

The billiard room was wallpapered and upholstered in an assortment of greens from olive to juniper, to match its usual occupant; a bed had been pushed into one corner, and there were hurriedly tidied piles of books and clothes on the chest of drawers. As they sat Rose down on a chair, the middle-aged maid – whom Eddie had come to learn was named Anne – came in with a heavy bucket of water and poured it into the mostly filled tub behind the screen.

‘I shall help her bathe,’ Eddie said. ‘Thank you so much for your help, Kitty. Mrs Nicholson.’

Liza nodded. As they left the room, Eddie heard her instructing Anne to run down to the beach and fetch back their dresses. Eddie had quite forgotten them in all the confusion. She still had one hand on Rose’s shoulder, the other testing the temperature of the water, which was steaming softly in the firelight.

‘Just a moment and we shall have you hot as a ham, all right? God, you gave me a scare.’

‘I’m all right, really,’ Rose said, her voice insubstantial. ‘Only .?.?. I did worry they might insist on helping me bathe, and .?.?. and I think we’ve all seen enough of each other today to last a lifetime.’

‘Ha! The image of Albert coming out of the lake with his breeches all wet and see-through will haunt me until the day I die,’ Eddie said, helping Rose around the screen and to the tub.

‘Oh, don’t be horrid, he just saved my life,’ Rose said, clinging to the edge of the bath for support. ‘Will you peel my shift off? I’ll turn around. Don’t look.’

‘I’ve seen you naked before, you know,’ Eddie said, unwrapping Rose from her blankets and then getting to work on her sodden shift, averting her eyes as requested.

‘Yes, but .?.?. but we were fourteen, and it was dark,’ Rose said, shuddering as Eddie pulled her clothes free. ‘We were only saplings.Christ. Help me in, will you? I don’t want to survive the drowning only to .?.?. to dash my brains out in the billiard room. I’d be so embarrassed.’

Eddie laughed and did as she was told, relieved beyond measure that Rose was feeling well enough to make jokes; she let Rose lean heavily on her arm as she climbed carefully into the tub, hissing gently through her teeth as the hot water hit her legs. She sank down fully with a sigh of relief, and Eddie pulled round the chair and took a seat, so that all she could see of Rose was her head and shoulders.

‘Better?’

‘God, yes. I feel like .?.?. soup.’

‘Oh, dear. It seems that almost drowning has made you very stupid.’

‘I don’t care,’ Rose said, closing her eyes and tilting back her head, her face shrouded in steam. ‘I am stupid and I am happy and I am soup.’

‘Well then, I am very pleased for you,’ said Eddie. She shuffled the chair closer to the fire, suddenly realising how coldshewas and trying to be very brave about it. She wrapped both of her arms around herself and pulled her knees up to her chin, precariously balanced. ‘Valentine was telling us that this place really is cursed, and now I think I almost believe it.’

‘Not cursed,’ said Rose. ‘I was just out of my depth. It was my fault.’

‘That’s just what the cursewantsyou to think,’ said Eddie. ‘All sorts of terrible things have happened here, you know. A maid was drowned .?.?. Valentine half-admitted that Nash’s father had something to do with it. It’s a wonder that Nash likes it here at all.’

Rose laughed weakly. ‘God. I don’t think it’s a wonder. He seems the sort toloveterrible things. He must be frightfully disappointed that I didn’t drown.’

‘How could you say such a thing!’ exclaimed Eddie. ‘Of course he doesn’t want you todrown.’

‘I would not be so sure,’ said Rose. She opened her eyes and frowned at Eddie, who was shaking despite her efforts. ‘Ed, you’re shivering.’

‘No I’m not,’ said Eddie. ‘I’m just doing a little dance, to lift your spirits.’

‘Get in the tub,’ Rose said.

Eddie just frowned at her.